Familiar yet different. Home tastes and the mountains of Italy on a British summer evening…

Dinner is served. And the sun is shining – at dinner time.

I used to be quite skeptic of the BBC good food website. Thinking it was just mass printed, recipe book style generic ingredients and instructions. But having seen the vast range of complex yet appealing and itty bitty dishes, entwined with traditional favorites…they know take up the majorityof my sidebar ‘to do’ list… This recipe itself was actually adapted from:

It also took less than an hour so cook up, it would have been less…but Iwasn’t clumsy or anything and most certainly didn’t slash my finger with a knife whilst getting happy chopping onions thus delaying the time….so yeah, take care on this, and enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients

CHICKEN:

4 chicken breasts

Olive oil

Milk

Salt to taste

SAUCE:

1 x can of plum tomatoes

1x can of butter beans

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 x red onion

1 tsp parsley

Black pepper to taste

2 Garlic gloves

1 small white onion

1 tsp paprika

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp chives

Fresh basil and mascarpone (optional)

Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Fry 1 finely chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves in olive oil until softened but not colored Add tomatoes and beans, season, then simmer for 10-15 minutes or until thick and glossy. Take off the heat and stir in 4 tbsp mascarpone (optional) and half a handful of basil, roughly torn.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry 6 chicken breasts on both sides until golden. Add a splash of milk (Greeks moist chicken secret) and some salt. Transfer to a baking dish and pour over the sauce. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Scatter over the remaining half handful of basil.

As for the peppers and red onion, I just drizzled them in olive and dumped them in a baking dish, sprinkled with salt and paprika and baked them till brown and soft – timed to come out along with the chicken. Just a serving idea, makes the meal!

I served this with rustic baked potatoes and a little cheese for the fussy veggie phobic at the table.